Shohei Ohtani was lights out in his season debut as a pitcher.
But the way he hit in the Dodgers’ 4–1 win over the Cleveland Guardians might have been an equally important development.
This year, Ohtani is returning to full-time two-way duties for the first time in his already decorated Dodgers career. He will make normal turns through the rotation. He will try to go wire-to-wire as a pitcher for the full campaign. And based on Tuesday’s gem, a scoreless six-inning, one-hit, six-strikeout outing amid a drizzling rain, he might even contend for a Cy Young Award –– the only piece of hardware he’d yet to claim since coming to the majors.
If there was one question that followed him into this season, however, it was whether his pitching would negatively impact his bat.
Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani throws to the plate during the third inning against the Guardians at Dodger Stadium, LA. CHRIS TORRES/EPA/Shutterstock That appeared to be the case for much of last year, when Ohtani returned to the mound following a second-career Tommy John surgery.
In his 14 regular-season pitching starts, the slugger hit just .222 with four home runs and 21 strikeouts. The days after those outings, his average dropped to .147 with two home runs and 10 strikeouts.
It was bad enough, manager Dave Roberts eventually conceded to a potential correlation.
“[His offense] hasn’t been good when he’s pitched,” Roberts said following another poor hitting performance in Ohtani’s first pitching start of last year’s playoffs. “We’ve got to think through this, and come up with a better game plan.”
Ohtani’s subsequent pitching outing, of course, was historic: A three-homer, 10-strikeout tour de force in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.
And all along, he downplayed the theory that his offense was suffering from his two-way duties, insisting he felt no physical connection.
Still, when Roberts was asked ahead of Tuesday’s game how closely he would be watching Ohtani’s at-bats in his first start of the season, it was clear that the dynamic remained very much front of mind.
“I’m going to be paying attention to those,” he said, before specifically highlighting the challenge of the first-inning transition for the team’s leadoff hitter in home games.
Ohtani is returning to full-time two-way duties for the first time in his already decorated Dodgers career. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect “You go from the mound to the on-deck circle to the batter’s box. I’m not saying it’s a throwaway, but it’s hard.”
At the start of Tuesday’s contest, that once again appeared to be the case.
After a scoreless top of the first, Ohtani rushed back to the dugout, slipped into his hitting equipment while an umpire checked for sticky substances on his glove and cap, then grounded out to third base with an awkward swing.
After that, however, the four-time MVP’s at-bats got markedly better.
A walk on five pitches in the third inning. Another on four pitches while leading off the fifth. And a ground-ball single in the seventh once his pitching start had been completed.
No highlight moments, to be sure. But none of the wasted plate appearances he was prone to last season, either.
“He’s taking walks, he’s swinging at the right pitches,” Roberts said afterward. “Those hits will start to come. But yeah, it was just a solid night.”
The reason such results were important was because of something else Roberts said pregame.
While the plan right now is for Ohtani to still lead off on the days he pitches, the manager left the door open to eventually changing that routine.
The way Ohtani hits in the days after taking the mound could also factor into his usage. Last year, the team manipulated his pitching schedule to line up preceding off days. If they do so again, it could further limit the already restricted number of starts he’s expected to make.
“I’ll give him a handful of starts,” Roberts said, “and see where we’re at.”
Thus, Tuesday represented something of a two-way test.
And at least for one night, Ohtani showed he can still handle it.
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